As human-beings we are resilient. Every day we are greeted with a broad spectrum of worries, stresses and strains; and generally our resilience allows us to juggle these stresses and enables us to naturally manage them.
Sometimes the stresses feel bigger than our resilience can manage, and our mind holds on to them, preventing us from identifying the solutions of how we can manage these stresses. At these times, there are simple, practical techniques that we can employ to re-boot our resilience, and help us create space in our mind.
A fast-paced walk around the block helps for a number of reasons. Firstly that “stressed” feeling creates adrenaline, and exercise can help the adrenaline dissipate. Secondly going for a walk engages all of our senses: different scenery, sounds, smells, and things to touch. This distracts our brain from the stresses, and gives a chance for our resilience to re-surface.
Very often when we are feeling overly stressed our breathing will be fast and our posture will be stiff, which increases the tension in our body and ultimately our mind. Concentrating on our breathing, and focusing on slowing it down can really help, as can moving our bodies, shrugging our shoulders and rotating our limbs.
Our hands are a real barometer of how we are feeling. When we are stressed we often clasp our hands together and hold them in a rigid way. When we relax our hands, our shoulders relax and the tension starts to ease in our body and our mind.
Employing one or all of these techniques can help to re-focus the mind and allow our resilience to come to the fore. At this point we can start to develop an action plan of how we will proactively manage our stresses.